"Lest We Forget" - Highland Park - Meridian, MS
N 32° 22.529 W 088° 43.130
16S E 338301 N 3583355
"Lest We Forget" is a memorial located in historic Highland Park in Merdian, MS. Highland Park is on the National Register of Historic Places.
Waymark Code: WM6M31
Location: Mississippi, United States
Date Posted: 06/18/2009
Views: 12
This monument is located in historic Highland Park in Meridian, MS.
Text on the marker reads:
Lest We Forget
This stone stands as a memorial to those heroes who have made the supreme sacrifice of life itself. It also stands as a testimonial to all men and women who have honorably worn the uniform of the United States of America in time of war and peace.
May God Bless America.
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Highland Park is on the National Register of Historic Places. The history of Highland Park begins in 1889 when the area was used as the Meridian Fair and Livestock Exposition. When the Fair and Exposition Corporation dissolved in 1906, ownership of the land was transferred to the newly formed Park Association, established as a non-profit corporation to assemble property and develop initial plans for Highland Park. At the time Highland Park was designed, there was a national trend for streetcar pleasure parks, and electric railway companies wanted to increase their operations by owning or investing in these parks. The Meridian Light and Railway Company followed the national trend, building a rail line beginning at 8th Street and following 34th Avenue until it turned west between 19th and 20th Streets and continuing west into Highland Park. The company also cooperated with the city to build the park itself in 1908 and provide band concerts for its amphitheater.
Since its opening, Highland Park has remained open year round to visitors, serving them with grand scenery, interesting history, and various local events.
The park houses a Jimmie Rodgers museum honoring the Meridian-born country legend and displaying the original guitar of the so-called "Singing Brakeman," along with other memorabilia of his life and career and various railroading equipment from the steam-engine era.
The park is also home to the Highland Park Dentzel Carousel and Shelter Building, a National Historic Landmark manufactured around 1896 by Gustav Dentzel of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The historic carousel is the only two-row stationary Dentzel menagerie in existence.
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